Here’s how ‘kidnapped’ model Chloe Ayling was saved by Instagram

British model Chloe Ayling has said Instagram saved her when she was allegedly abducted and held for ransom in Italy.

The 20-year-old claims that she was lured to a fake set, but when she arrived in Milan, two men grabbed and drugged her before shoving her into a suitcase. She awoke handcuffed and was told by masked men that she was to be sold on the dark web to the highest bidder.

“When the buyer gets tired of the girl he can give them to others or if she’s not longer of interest she’s ‘tiger meat’,” one of them told Ayling.

Her captors claimed to be part of a group called Black Death and attempted to auction her off for US$300 000 in Bitcoin — they offered the same amount to her agent should they want her back.

Ayling was allegedly freed from capture after the men discovered she had a child.

Many on Twitter have cast doubt on the story — claiming Ayling did not show signs of trauma when reading her statement for television — but officials have yet to object to any information released by local news outlets.

Author | Julia Breakey

Julia is a UCT film graduate with a passion for dogs, media, and dog-centric media. If she's not gushing about the new television show that you need to watch, she's rewatching The Good Place (which you need to watch). More